TuneIn, tune on and rock out: That’s the story for TuneIn, the California-based streaming news, sports and music service. The company raised $16 million in a round led by General Catalyst Partners, and the VC was joined by Jafco Ventures, Google Ventures and Sequoia Capital. TuneIn will be using the new funding to build scale.
PRESS RELEASE:
PALO ALTO, CA, Aug 06, 2012 — TuneIn, the leading service for listening to music, sports and news streams from around the world, today announced that it raised $16 million in a round of funding, led by General Catalyst Partners, with participation from Jafco Ventures, Google Ventures and existing business partner Sequoia Capital. TuneIn will use the new funding to scale the company’s technical and business operations worldwide.
“Our mission is to deliver the best listening experience possible, and it is so meaningful to us that 40 million people have chosen to listen to the world — every month — through TuneIn,” said John Donham, Chief Executive Officer, TuneIn. “This investment will help us fulfill our mission while increasing our headcount and growing our product development and marketing initiatives.”
The Palo Alto startup has grown rapidly, reaching 40 million monthly active listeners, which includes a 267 percent increase in the company’s mobile listener base over the past 12 months. This expansion of listeners is attributed to the powerful TuneIn offering of 70,000 stations and two million on-demand programs, combined with a seamless product experience that has been highly rated in app stores worldwide.
“As we’ve seen with the television, movie and book markets, the digital radio space is headed into a period of disruptive change,” said Hemat Taneja, Managing Director at General Catalyst Partners. “The open-platform approach demonstrated by TuneIn uniquely positions the company to take advantage of this enormous market opportunity.”
Throughout the year, TuneIn has formed pivotal alliances with major broadcasters, such as CBS Radio Network, NPR and Entercom, furthering the company’s goal of making all the world’s audio readily available to everyone. Beyond radio groups, TuneIn has aligned with popular podcasters including Adam Carolla, sports organizations such as the New England Patriots, and live music festivals like Outside Lands.
“Internet listeners now represent over 30% of the radio audience,” added Bryan Schreier, General Partner, Sequoia Capital. “TuneIn has distinguished itself as both the premier partner to the industry and the leading service to listeners. They make radio better every day.”
TuneIn is widely accessible on more than 200 devices, and available practically anywhere with an Internet signal, including all major smartphones and tablets, smart TVs and radios, car dashboards and on the web at tunein.com.
About TuneIn: TuneIn lets people listen to the world’s music, sports, talk and news from wherever they are, with over 70,000 AM, FM, HD and Internet radio stations and more than two million on-demand programs streaming from every continent. The company raised venture funding from Sequoia Capital in late 2010 and is headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif.
